A New Term
by HeartlessMagic
Summary: AU. All Human. Bella is a 19 year-old college freshman who is starting her first year at Wash. U. However, she encounters something she never thought possible, something that could change her life forever. EdxB. EmxR. JxA.
1. A New Term

**AN: Hey guys! I this a new story of mine, and I really hope that you enjoy it. I know that this is a really short chapter, but the others won't be like that. I really would appreciate some reviews, just o know what you guys think, and tell me if you want to hear more. I know that i haven't gotten to any of the actual plot, but it will arrive within the next couple chapters if you want me to continue this. Thanks a bunch! **

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. **

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Chapter One- A New Term

**BPOV**

"Mom, I'm going to be_ fine,_" I sighed for the umpteenth time into the phone. My mother, Renee, was as prone to worrying as I was to accidents. "I promise to call every weekend, alright? But I've seriously got to go now if I'm ever going to get any unpacking done."

Finally succeeding in getting my mother off the phone, I stared at the empty white wall in front of me. Letting out a heavy sigh, I decided to grab my suitcases and start unpacking them, trying to add a dab of personality to my side of the room. I had recently been accepted to Washington State University, one of the top colleges in the Olympic Peninsula area. If the choice had been left up to me, I would have rather gone to a small university in the heart of Phoenix, where I grew up. However, as I was quickly finding out, hardly anything was my choice anymore. Before I could lose myself in my thoughts completely, I heard the distinct sounds of a group of people walking down the hall. Before I knew it, four people had swarmed into the room, taking up more space than I had thought possible.

"Alice, _why_ can't we share a room this year? Was I really that bad of a roommate?" I saw her blonde head bobbing up and down as the girl spoke, but was blocked by an immense figure standing in front of me to see anything else.

"Of course not, Rosalie! I just want to try this, you know? Living with someone who I haven't known my entire life… it could be a good learning experience!"

The blonde girl, Rosalie, let out a loud sob and enveloped her friend, Alice, into a tight embrace. I realized as the others started to talk that none of them were aware that I was in the room with them. I shrunk further into the corner, giving hem as much privacy as I could. I still couldn't help but overhear everything they were saying.

"Rose, she's not going to die. All she's doing is moving into a new room. One that's_right beside yours_. You should probably let her breathe right about now so that she doesn't die on her roommate over there." I jumped at the mention of my presence, cursing myself for letting myself be lulled into a false sense of security. Whipping around, I was faced with four sets of highly curious eyes staring at me. Flushing my traditional shade of bright red, I meekly turned to the short, pixie-like girl I took as being Alice.

"H- hey, you must be Alice."

"And you're Isabella?" her hazel eyes sparkled as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Bella, please. It's nice to meet you." I stuck out my hand, expecting her to shake it. Instead, she grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug, all the while squealing happily into my ear. I heard booming laughter coming from beside me and extracted myself from Alice to see who it was. I found myself staring directly at what looked like a wall of walking muscle, topped off with a mop of curly brown hair. My eyes almost came out of my sockets as he, too, gathered me in a hug that lifted me off my feet, my body shaking with the rumbling of his laughter.

"EMMETT! Put her down, you idiot! Can't you see she's scared stiff of you?" Rosalie pulled me away from Emmett and looked at me with apologetic eyes. "I'm so sorry, he's not very good with personal space. Like sister like brother I guess! I'm Rosalie, by the way."

I was relieved to see that she stuck out her hand and shook mine warmly. I turned my attention to the last of the four and found myself staring up at a man with dirty-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He gave me a small smile and introduced himself as Jasper, Rosalie's twin brother. I smiled shyly at them, not used to the attention they were giving me. Although I was a bit uncomfortable with all of their gazes on me, I was also pleased to see that my new roommate seemed so nice. Maybe this would be a good year after all.

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**Review, and I'll make Edward give you a hug when he finally appears! **


	2. The First Afternoon

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed or put this story on alert! It means so much to me, considering this is my first real story. I dedicate this chapter to all of you awesome people. I would also like to dedicate it to my wonderful beta, Emily! Without her, I wouldn't even have had the nerve to upload this. ) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. **

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Chapter Two- 

**BPOV**

I sat at the round table, still unable to believe that the Cullens and the Hales would actually want me to eat with them. We were at a local pizzeria, eating on the picnic benches outside, enjoying the warm noon breeze. '_Well, you __are__ Alice Cullen's new roommate. They just want to be nice so that you won't hate them.' _**'Or maybe they just like me…' **_'Ha! As if. They __just__ met you!' _I couldn't believe that I was having an argument with myself. Before I could blush with embarrassment, I became aware of Jasper asking me a question from across the table.

"So, where are you from? You don't really seem like you're from around here." He speared some ravioli and stuffed it in his mouth, waiting for my answer.

"Oh, well, technically I am I guess. I was born in Forks, but grew up in Phoenix with my mother."

"You don't seem too happy with your move up here." Wow, I thought to myself, this guy was perceptive.

"Heh, I bet the constant shadow of the clouds could dampen anyone's mood." I chuckled humorlessly, glad that the others did too.

"Trust me, Bella. I just _know_ that you are going to end up loving it here." Alice beamed at me, overly confident in her prediction.

I smirked, raising my eyebrow, "And just how do you know this Alice?" I saw her bite her bottom lip in contemplation.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I've just got this crazy feeling that you're going to have a very interesting time." Her lips curved back into the smile that seemed to be perpetually plastered on her face. I grinned back at her, hoping that she was right.

"So, what about you guys? You seem so close to each other. What's the story behind that?"

"Well, considering we've all known each other since we were in diapers, it's hard not to be close." Emmett's resonating voice was filled with humor and I quickly found myself laughing with him. "See, Bella, we've been next door neighbors since before we can remember. We just all hit it off, some more than others." His eyes flashed to Rosalie as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Except for Eddie that is…"

"Eddie?" I questioned. Was there another one of them?

"Don't _ever_ call him that to his face. He absolutely loathes it!" Emmett grinned.

"I bet you use that nickname every chance you get, huh?" I smirked as Emmett nodded his head furiously. "So, who is this 'Eddie'?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "Edward Cullen, my wonderfully antisocial brother."

"Hey! I resent that, sister-dear. I'm very social when I find the need to be." The velvet voice cut through whatever Alice was about to say and left her squealing. I turned around and found myself staring at one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen.

Whoa! Rewind! Did I just use 'beautiful' to describe a guy? But as I continued to stare at him, no other word could come close to what he really looked like. I was aware of Alice launching herself at him, but all I could see was the brilliant smile that spread across his face, his bronze hair ruffling in the slight breeze. He set his sister down and turned his gaze onto me, his emerald eyes scorching my chocolate ones. He stuck his hand out, introducing himself.

"Edward Cullen. And you are…" he trailed off, still staring at me.

"Bella Swan." I barely heard myself respond, too distracted by the feel of his strong hand shaking mine, the crooked grin back on his face. He pulled up the empty seat beside me and plopped down gracefully.

"Ahh, of course, the new roommate. I can't believe they've already reeled you in. I bet they didn't even give you the chance to unpack before whisking you away." His tone was light and teasing, but I could see the curiosity burning in his eyes. I was sure that mine had the same expression.

"Well, I could never turn down the offer for some food." I smiled at him, not able to tear my gaze away. Until Alice unmercifully kicked my chair, that is. I jerked in my seat, turning to give her a little glare. All I got in return was a small, knowing smile. She turned to Edward and immediately started chatting.

"So Edward, why are you here so early? School doesn't start for a week and I thought you said that you didn't want to come until next weekend." She looked at him quizzically, her eyes narrowing just a tad. Edward gave a nonchalant shrug, leaning back in his chair.

"I didn't feel like sticking around an empty house. As much as I hate to admit it, it's pretty boring without you guys around." Alice giggled happily, jumping slightly in her seat.

Rose had just finished her garden salad and decided to cut into the conversation. "Alice, what time is the 'Welcome Ball' tomorrow?" Alice immediately switched her attention to Rosalie, increasing her jumping quite a bit.

"It's at seven, but I say that we meet up in my room at four so that we can have enough time to get all three of us ready. Bella, does that sound alright to you?" I looked at her blankly, not knowing what she was talking about.

"Huh?" was my lame response. All of a sudden, all and any activity at the table ceased, as though the breath had been knocked out of each and every one of them. Alice's mouth was gaping open, her eyes wide with shock. I could almost feel the fright on my face and knew that it was showing as plain as day. "What?" I asked meekly.

"Oh. My. God. Bella, please tell me that you knew about the dance tomorrow…" Her voice was soft, but I could feel the storm brewing beneath the clam.

"Uhh, I knew about the dance tomorrow?" Even as the words left my lips I knew that they were the worst possible ones that I could have said all evening. Alice clapped a hand over her mouth as a piercing shriek echoed from her throat. She jumped from her chair, knocking it back in her haste. I saw Rosalie do the same from the corner of my eye, and before I knew it, I was being roughly shoved from my seat and out towards the parking lot. "Guys, what's wrong? Where the hell are you taking me?"

Their answer was simple, but it caused my very core to freeze in horror. They were taking me…

_**Shopping.**_

…ooOOoo…

I stepped out of Alice's yellow Porsche Turbo and stared silently at the giant building in front of me. A giant building filled with stores and clothes that were going to make surviving the next couple hours nothing but pure torture. My eyes drifted towards Rosalie and Alice and were not pleased to see the hard determination etched on their faces. I quickly contemplated making a run for it, but ruled that idea out immediately, knowing that I would just end up tripping over myself within the first couple feet. If only I could get those keys dangling from Alice's hand…

Rose saw me eyeballing the keychain and quickly grabbed my arm, barring any escape route I had. "Oh no, you're not going anywhere Bella. We have four hours to find you a dress, shoes, and accessories. We may just have met you, but trust me, I can tell that you don't have a single decent dress in that wardrobe of yours."

"Oh come on, you can't force me to buy things that I clearly don't need, you know." I said, cringing at her words. Alice whipped her head and gave me a long hard glare worthy of rivaling a lion's. I swear, she even _growled_. "Or maybe you can…"

As we walked through the mall, the crowd parted before Alice like the Red Sea did for Moses. I started giggling at the thought of how the three of us must have looked: two gorgeous girls with a substantial height difference dragging along Plain Jane me. Soon, we walked into a small, polished store and within the minute, my two new friends had laden me with over ten dresses. I looked at them wide-eyed, not believing that they were going to make me try all of these on.

"Yes, Bella, you're going to try them on. Now go before I add ten more to that pile!" Alice's voice was still perfectly calm, but I couldn't help but feel completely terrified by it. Immediately turning around, I made a beeline for the dressing rooms and proceeded to try the first one on. It was a halter, knee length blue number with a jeweled inset just below the bust. As I was stepping out of the room, I made the mistake of looking at the price tag hanging off the side. Let's just say that the cost of my books didn't even come close to its price.

"HOLY ----!!!! ALICE CULLEN!!! What the hell!!! How do you expect me to afford this??? It's almost more than our dorm rent!" I stormed over to Alice, whisper-yelling the entire way. She, however, disregarded my outburst entirely and proceeded to clap her hands in excitement.

"Oh my gosh, Bella! That's _perfect_!!! Whoever knew that you could find the perfect dress on the first try? Wow, this is going to make things so much easier… Now we just have to find the perfect shoes, which shouldn't be too hard, considering your dress is the perfect color. And then…" Alice looked over, as if just realizing that I was still there. "Bella! Go change, we have to buy this ASAP and move on out! Bella? What's wrong?"

"Alice, do you have any idea how much this little piece of fabric costs??? There is no way in hell that I am paying for this. Why don't we just go over to Macy's or something, you know get… a… Alice?" For the second time that day it looked like Alice had gone into cardiac arrest.

"Bella... Oh my…" Her voice was soft with sympathy as she continued. "Do you shop at… Macy's?" Her voice caught on the word, making it seem like she had to choke it out. I looked at her strangely, not understanding why she looked like her cat had just been run over.

"Uhh, yes… I do… but seriously Alice, what does that have to do with anything at a-" I let out a squeak as she crushed me to herself, wrapping her arms around my torso. _What the…_

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry for you! I can't believe you've had to shop at places like that your entire life! This totally explains your wardrobe! Or at least as much of it I've seen so far. Oh it's alright Bella, we will fix this, don't worry, we'll have you clad in designer fashion wear in no time at all!" I blinked a couple times, trying to comprehend the huge speech she had just given in one breath. Before I could fully finish my mental breakdown, Rosalie suddenly appeared, laughing uncontrollably.

"Hahaha!!! That was so funny! Breathe Bella; your face is getting all red. Alice, why don't we _ease_ Bella into becoming pro-shoppers such as ourselves? And Bella, calm down, we're going to buy the dress for you and there's nothing you can say to stop us. Now go change back into your regular clothes and pass the dress out so that we can pay for it and leave. The employees are staring at us because of your outburst." She continued to giggle under her breath as she followed me to the dressing rooms and took the dress to the counter once I had changed. Alice had returned to her chipper mood and we all headed off to find the perfect pair of shoes.

"Rose, why did you just buy me that dress? I mean, don't get me wrong, its beautiful, and I do find it very sweet of both of you, but how can you spend that much money on someone you've just met?" We had been in the shoe store for a while now, not able to find the perfect pair. Rose and Alice had grown tired of sitting around and had decided to go searching for shoes of their own.

"Hmm? Oh, that was nothing Bella. It's just that Alice and I have always been together. We're like sisters, and we share the same opinions on virtually everything. When we met you this morning, Alice just had a feeling that you were going to become an amazing friend. And, you'll find this out soon enough, living with her and all, but it is a very bad idea to bet against Alice." She winked at me before getting up and walking over to the mirror, admiring the red pumps she had on. "I think I'm getting these… Have you found any Bella?"

I shook my head, still thinking about what she had said about me becoming a good friend. I may have only known them for an extremely short period of time, but I knew that I wanted that to be true. I wanted very badly for them to like me and for me to become their friend. And I would do it too. I smiled to myself, happy with the decision I had made. I decided to wing it and picked up the first blue shoes I saw and went over to the bench to try them on. To my surprise, they were a perfect fit and looked quite nice on me. Just as I was standing up, Alice came barreling around the corner, talking about the great pair she had just found. When she saw me however, she stopped and stared.

"Bella! Those are gorgeous! Get them, get them!!! Oh good, we all have shoes now! On to some accessories then, ladies?" We grinned at each other, paid for the shoes, and continued on our meandering course through the mall. The accessories didn't take nearly as long to buy, and before I knew it, I had an entire wardrobe for the dance the next night, with necklace and all. We loaded our bags into Alice's trunk and sped back to campus, Alice and Rosalie excited to spend an entire evening with their boyfriends.

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**Well, there you have it, chapter two! Yes, I know that this was probably a bit blurry, but I just really want to get to the actual point of the story... And to do that, we need to get to the dance. LOL. Now for that long awaited hug... **

**D: Edward!!! Go give those 17 people hugs!**

**E: My arms are for Bella only.**

**D: glare**

**E: gives everyone hugs**

**Haha, review please! I'd love to know what you guys think!**

**HeartlessMagic X3 **


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